I Hope I Was Right
by Firelight234
Summary: Jen is leading hundreds of innocient people to their deaths, just so future third-children might have a shot at freedom. You can imagine how much she hopes that she's right.


Just a quick little story for you guys to read while your waiting for my two other stories to move along... sorry about that D:

I dont know if any of you have ever read The Shadow Children series, but its really good! :D  
So read the actual books!  
Now.

_**~ I hope I Was Right...~**_

You know what sucks about facing over three hundred armed men with fully loaded guns, and then there you are with only a hundred something kids holding signs?  
You realize it was a pretty stupid idea, but it had to be done.  
When I walked up those final steps with all those kids following behind me... I felt like I was leading them right to their deaths, and I was.  
There was no chance of us getting out of there alive, but all those shadow children thought there was, they thought we would take our freedom and leave, that the rules would be changed so quickly... they had hope.  
But no... this was only the start.

In a way, I was glad that Luke had been too chicken to come with us.. _he_ would be the one who brought the shadow children their freedom, I knew he would be.  
He'd have to man up first of course, I mean, we cant have a guy who's afraid of crossing the road lead us to victory, it'd be humiliating!

But I wont be there to see it...

I bit my lip as the thought occured to me, I was going to die, I wouldnt see Luke again, I wouldnt see my parents or my brothers, i'd never talk to all those kids in the secret online chatroom...  
"Jen?" A voice snapped me out of my thoughts, and I looked up to see the familiar face of my friend Mark.  
He'd be dead, too...  
"You okay?" Mark asked, a concerned look on his face.  
I nodded, then narrowed my eyes, "Why wouldnt I be? After today we're going to be free!"  
I guess a few people behind me heard what I had said, because they started chanting  
"_We'll be free! We'll be free!_"  
And the people behind them heard, and started chanting, then the people behind them-  
ah, you get the idea.  
Mark nodded slowly, "We are..."  
"They'll listen to us," I reasurred him, giving him a light shove, "They have to."  
Well, they would eventually.  
How many people can they kill before word gets out?  
People would hear about the population police killing hundreds of kids who want the right to live, they'd be pissed when they find out!

Suddenly the front doors to the giant building where all those cold hearted people hid opened, and a elderly man stepped out.  
A sly smile climbed its way across his face as he scanned the area,  
"Well well..." He finally said, "Visitors?"  
An angry uproar sounded from the crowd, but I remained silent.  
"I suppose someone is leading this little party, hm? Alright, who is it?" The man asked as he crossed his arms.  
"I am!" I shouted, taking a step foward, "And I believe that I speak for _all_ illigal children when I say that we deserve the right to exist!"  
The man raised his eyebrows in amusement, "Oh really? That sounds like an interesting story! I believe this needs to be discussed..."  
Beside me, Mark shifted his feet, "What does he mean by-"  
Before he could finish, hundreds of fully armored men raced out of the building and pointed their guns at us.  
My eyes widened in horror... they could of atleast been more subtle about killing us...  
Mark grabbed my arm, "What are we going to do now?"  
I grinned, "We protest."  
Mark looked at me like I was crazy, "Jen, they have _guns_!"  
"And we have voices!" I raised my sign and began shouting,  
_"We deserve to be free!"_  
More than half of the kids behind me followed my lead.  
The old man frowned, then whispered something into a small cell-phone. A few seconds I heard the sound of bullets being fired.  
"We have a right to live!" I pressed, forcing my voice to go louder.  
I didnt care if I died.  
I wanted to be heard.  
I could tell that some kids were fleeing from the scene, but by the sound of all the gunshots I doubt any of them made it past the gates.  
Suddenly Mark made a choking sound, and I turned to look as he fell to the ground, a bullet wound right in his chest.  
"Mark?" I shouted, "Mark!"  
Only then did I realize that the bullet had hit his heart.

"We have a right to live..." Mark croaked, a smile on his face, "We'll be free..."  
I forced back tears, "We will."  
An agonizing pain shot through me, and I became aware that I hadnt been paying attention to what was going on around me, and that I had been shot, too.  
Nearly half of the shadow children were on the ground, blood spilling from their bodies,  
the other half was still standing, but they looked terrified.  
My knee's buckled beneath me, and I fell beside Mark, who now was hardly making an effort to breath... heck, he was probably dead.  
And I would be too, soon...

xxx

You know how they say that when you die, your life flashes before your eyes?  
Well, they're right, but mine wasnt much of a life.  
I saw myself hiding, and hiding some more, being yelled at for looking out the windows of the house, I saw myself shopping for the first time, and the second, and the third, and then all the countless times after that.  
I saw my family moving to the new house, and then I saw Luke.  
Luke, the guy I knew who would save every shadow child one day.  
I dont know how, but he will.  
Luke, the stupid boy who was smart enough to stay behind.  
Luke, my first actual friend.

Hopefully this wasnt all for nothing.  
Hopefully I didnt just lead hundreds of kids to their deaths for no good reason.  
Hopefully the message would get out, that every third, fourth, fith, and every child after the restricted number deserves to live.  
Hopefully I was right about Luke...


End file.
